Kerala Congress (Joseph)

Kerala Congress (Joseph) is a regional political party in Kerala and was formed in 1979 after a split from the Kerala Congress. Its founder is PJ Joseph.From the years 1979 to 1989 the party was part of the United Democratic Front (UDF).In 1985, Kerala Congress leaders KM Mani, from Kerala Congress (M), PJ Joseph from Kerala Congress (Joseph), and R Balakrishna Pillai (from Kerala Congress (B)) merged their parties forming the united Kerala Congress.This merger split in 1987 but PJ Joseph continued in United Democratic Front (UDF) till 1989.In 1991, Joseph's party became part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) as an alliance.In 2010 this party merged to Kerala Congress(M) for the second time for the united Kerala Congress.For the 2011 Kerala Assembly elections, both PJ Joseph and PC Thomas claimed that their respective factions were entitled to the original party, but the election commission froze the claims and directed the followers of Joseph to contest under the name of the Kerala Congress (M) and the followers of Thomas to contest under the name Kerala Congress.The Kerala Congress (M), has announced its candidates on 12 seats for the April 6 Assembly polls.Party chairman Jose K Mani, however, has not announced the candidate for the Kuttiady constituency in Kozhikode, considering the protests by local CPI(M) activists against allocating the seat for KC(M).